We Rock!
by Super Plexico
Summary: Who doesn't love music? Who doesn't enjoy making music? Or talking about it? So who's a better guitarist: Hendrix or Eric Johnson? Easy, Hendrix. How about Uchiha or Haruno? Uh... Better drummer: Keith Moon or John Bonham? Easy, Bonham. What about Neji or Tenten? Er... Well, you'll find out at this year's Battle of the Bands competition.
1. Lightbulb

This is my first story, please be gentle. Please don't eat me alive. I shall reward you with cookies (or something…)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

The bass strings hummed through the atmosphere, each guitar note could be heard from five miles away, the drums were ear-numbing—it was a cover song, but so brilliantly executed by the band who head-banged on stage. In the center of the room was a mosh pit so intense that no one wanted to be dragged into it. Oh, except for masochists. They were completely fine in it. Everyone surrounding the warehouse and in the warehouse jumped around, showing their joy through listening through the music.

Even the emotionless Uchiha Sasuke tapped his foot to the rhythm. Well, it was that and that he was impatiently waiting for his so-called friends to arrive (although he merely acknowledged the as acquaintences).

The guitar solo echoed through the air. He cringed. It's not that it was bad, in fact he was rather impressed by the band covering the song, it's just… did people have to be so bloody _annoying_? And did the music have to be so deafening?

Sasuke tapped his foot some more and checked his watch thinking: _If they don't show up after this song is finished, I'm leaving_.

Right in cue, as the drummer hit the final hit-hat beat, a red-headed boy looking disgruntled pushed his way through the crowd. There are too many people here, he thought while trying to shove past some metal-heads that were being too loud for anybody.

"Gaara," Sasuke said shifting from his comfortable spot on the wall. Gaara didn't reply, just grunted looking ever more irate.

"Where's Naruto?" he grumbled.

"You tell me, you were to one who called me with a message from _him_." Sasuke retorted. The next song started playing with the drums and guitar in sync. Gaara frowned and was about to say something intelligent in protest when:

"Oi!" the loud voice—which could only belong to one—carried through the crowd. Both angry (beautiful) boys whipped around to see the infamous Naruto, dragging along what looked like a more than irritated Neji and Shikamaru. Naruto grinned once they had all assembled, completely oblivious to the angry looks he was receiving from all around.

"Okay, you have us all here, dobe, now what?" Sasuke snapped. Naruto pointed towards the make-shift stage while the band jammed out to Backlash by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, "How much money do you owe them?"

Naruto's jaw dropped. "I don't owe them anything! I think that we should do that!"

"What?"

"That!"

"Battle of the Bands," Neji read through the flashing lights and dark room, "Naruto, that's not until next year."

"And none of us can play musical instruments." Shikamaru drawled out.

"None of us thought that I could eat thirty bowls of ramen, and I did." Naruto responded, "That's why—that' why I think that we could start our own band, enter Battle of the Bands show everyone that we kick ass!"

"Rejected." All four boys said at once. Naruto puffed out his cheeks.

"But, I know Gaara can sing! See we already have one member down." Naruto protested. Gaara, on the other hand, looked baffled and embarrassed.

"When have you ever heard me sing?" he asked.

"Well, whenever you drive you'll sing whatever song you like on the radio, you hum down the hallways, and you sing whenever you have your headphones on and _think_ that no one is around." Naruto chirped. The worst thing was that Gaara didn't even reject it. He merely turned his head to the side defiantly, "Plus, Neji and Sasuke were both in orchestra for two years. You guys gotta have some musical talent."

"Okay, so say hypothetically we all did have some weird musical talent," Neji pointed out, "Do you realize how expensive instruments are. Drums running up to at least two-hundred and the other instruments as well. Not to mention the equipment like amplifiers and stuff." Naruto got that gleam in his eyes and his grin widened.

"Well, the other night, I was cleaning out Jiraiya's shed and guess what I found: two speakers, two guitars, a keyboard, an amplifier and some bongos." Naruto waited for them to congratulate him, but instead they gave him that "What the hell?" look. He sighed, looked like he had some explaining to do, "Okay, so I asked Perv what the deal was with all this stuff and he told me this long (really, really long) story and turns out he was in a band with two other people in high school. So, I asked him if his other band mates might have their old instruments, he shrugged and told me to ask. So then I called his bassist, Orochimaru—

"That creep!" Sasuke exclaimed, Naruto ignored him.

"And it turns out he was willing to give me all the equipment he owned 'cause he said it was better than it wasting away in his basement. From him I got one bass, a set of extra bass strings and a bass amp. Then I called Tsunade—their drummer—and she wasn't so cool as Orochimaru, so she's giving me her old drum set as long as I find a way to buy her booze for three months."

"Naruto, you're only seventeen." Shikamaru pointed out. He shrugged.

"I got the drums. So my point is that we have equipment at our disposal, and I say we could rock the people of Konoha through battle of the bands."

They all looked unsure still, "Well, I won't have to go home and talk with my family if that's the case." Gaara said slowly.

"It's not like I have anything better to do." Shikamaru said.

"I guess…" Sasuke muttered.

"Yeah…" Neji said staring off into space.

"Great, so we're in agreement! Let's meet up at my place tomorrow at say… five o' clock."

How was it?


	2. Rehearsal 1

Yay! It made me really happy that you guy left me reviews! :D You guys rock my socks and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the support so I shall keep going! So in turn here is a new chapter (this is seriously how band rehearsals go when it first gets going).

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

He could walk away. He could have just walked away right then and there and saved himself loads of trouble.

But no, there he was standing in front of Naruto's house in the summer heat still debating whether or not he should knock on the door. Unfortunately, before he could come up with a decision Naruto just _happened_ to be taking out the trash and spotted Neji from the side door and unceremoniously dragged Neji inside, chattering away on how awesome he set everything up. Neji mentally rolled his eyes, expecting the worst since this was _Naruto_.

In fact, he was in shock when he saw how Naruto set everything up. This was Naruto: the unpredictably either sloppy or super concise.

"Look! Pervy Sage even bought us some guitar stands—isn't it cool?" Naruto beamed.

Everything in the garage seemed to be set up with care. The drum set with the bongos had been dusted off, but one could tell they had been used for some thrashing by the marks all over them. The bass was sitting on a stand to the right of the drums along with the keyboard, and to the left were the two guitars. And of course there was the microphone on a stand sitting in the middle of it all.

Suddenly the door could be heard and Sasuke's angry voice, "Dobe, open up. It's a hundred degrees out here."

Neji watched as Naruto scrambled out of the room, typically, tripping on the way out. He sighed and paced the room and came to a halt once he neared the drums. He glanced at the open door and sat down on the stool in front of the drums. Pretending not to know what he was doing he rolled his fingers on top of the snare drum. Looking around to make sure no one was watching, he picked up the drumsticks and lightly hit the hit-hat, then the snare again.

But that moment of Neji's curiosity was popped like a bubble when he heard Naruto and Co. walking down the hallway. He stood up quickly and walked back to where he was standing. Everyone else—Sasuke, Gaara, and Shikamaru—strolled into the room, looking bored, but their boredom burst once they got a load of the room. Even Sasuke looked mildly surprised for a millisecond.

"So, so, what d'you think?" Naruto grinned. Everyone had a sudden interest in the floor. They all had this feeling that they were trying to suppress. Geez, what _was_ that feeling? It first dawned on Gaara. He bit his lip. He knew exactly what that feeling was:

Excitement.

"So," Naruto said walking towards one of the guitars, "I think teme should play guitar."

"Me?" Sasuke asked in slight surprise. Slight.

"No, the other bastard in this room," Naruto retorted, "Yes, you! Come over here and try this on for size." Naruto said holding up a faded black guitar with Squire written on top with squiggly letters, "Okay, Shikamaru, pick up that one over there next to Gaara."

"Why?"

"Because it's a bass and it's a lot simpler than the other instruments and if I give you a guitar you'll be all 'That's too troublesome.' Try the bass! Neji… er, I don't know if you want to try the drums?"

Neji tried to hide his surprise and slight joy.

"Whoa, whoa, Naruto, how do you expect us to learn this?" Shikamaru asked.

"Well, there's this magical device in the world called: the internet." Naruto said, "Plus, Jiraiya already taught me a thing or two about music. So I kind of know a little about each instrument."

"That's right, Naruto!" Speaking of the devil, Jiraiya walked into the room, "I can teach you chords for guitar and bass (they're mostly similar despite the lack to two strings on the bass). Drums, I'm afraid you're on your own. It's a matter if you've got good rhythm or not."

Fortunately for Jiraiya, both Sasuke and Shikamaru were quick studies and caught on quickly to what he taught them. Naruto on the other hand taught Neji simple beats on the drums using only the bass pedal, snare, hit-hat, and crash symbol. When Shikamaru asked how that old Perv managed to remember any of this he wisely replied that one does not simply forget music. They all looked dubious.

By the end, Sasuke couldn't even describe how badly the tips of his fingers hurt. He literally couldn't, that would be an insult to his pride. Each time he put his finger on a string he could pretty much _feel_ the string cutting deeper and deeper, but he wasn't about to go and complain about it. Shikamaru, however, set down the bass once he was sure that if he tried to play another note his fingers would bleed. _Naruto's a liar, that's not simple at all_. He thought absentmindedly.

"I think that this is the start of something totally awesome." Naruto said with a glowing smile, "Let's call it quits for now and you guys come back tomorrow, same time."

**Blargh, so this chapter was kind of slow, but hey, can't learn how to play instruments overnight (it takes three), I promise the next chapter will be better. Next chapter should have a song or two (if you guys have any good rock 'n' roll songs let me know!) Or something…**


	3. Rehearal 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

"Neji-nii, will you give me a ride to Tenten's place later?" Her voice was soft, but clear enough to hear properly. Neji lowered his newspaper and looked up at his cousin.

"Where's your car?" he asked. He didn't necessarily mind giving his cousin a ride, but normally she would've asked her father. She looked down at the floor.

"It broke down so father took it to the shop and he has a meeting today, so he can't take me." She muttered, embarrassed. Neji sighed.

"With all the money your father makes I don't get why he just doesn't buy you a new car. Or one that works better."

"Father believes that all teenagers should experience the whole 'crappy car' ordeal in high school."

"He spends a lot more money repairing the car," Neji muttered, "What time do you need to be over there by?"

"Five." She replied. Neji thought about it, _Naruto's as punctual as they come. I doubt he'll car if I'm running a few minutes late_. He regarded it with a nod.

-Fast-Forward to Partying like it's nine hours later in 2013 because it was-

"Oi! Neji you're late!" Naruto yelled. Neji's eye twitched. _Oh, sure, he can be twenty minutes late to anything, but I can't be ten to a _band_ practice._

"I had to take Hinata to her friend's place." He said simply. Naruto huffed.

"Whatever, whatever! C'mon we've already been uber productive!" When Neji walked inside, he expected to hear incoherent nonsense coming from over-sized speakers, but that was not the case. It was something completely different.

Music. Actual music that sounded like it flowed out easily instead of the odd noises he heard last time, "Look, we're going to try this song 'cause according to Jiraiya it's pretty easy. He's kind of helped us break certain parts down, but then he started drinking and…well, he's gone now." Naruto said throwing a pair of drumsticks in his hands, "And I taught you a similar rhythm to this song yesterday, 'member?"

It turned out the song started with the drums, which is why Naruto had been slightly irritated that they had to count off rather than have the drums do that for them. One, two, three… six strikes on the snare, followed by one hit on the crash symbol followed by only two beats off of the bass pedal and one on the snare. Like Naruto expected him to remember that from the previous day!

Soon after the guitar joined in, at first it sounded it bit shaky on Sasuke's side, but Naruto had it down and ready. Shikamaru's fingers fumbled on the thick bass strings, and Neji would lose count every so often, but not to where it sounded necessarily _bad_. Actually it didn't sound too bad. With everything, Gaara soon started in too, although his voice sounded a little nervous, because, well, he had never actually _sang _for someone before.

The song was all too familiar, because no one could say they love rock 'n' roll without knowing this song composed by the goddess of rock: Joan Jett.

"_Saw her dancing there by the record machine,  
Knew she must've been about seventeen…"_ They all tried their best to remember the full song. Gaara kept his eyes shut trying to remember the rest of the lyrics until the chorus came:

"_I love rock 'n' roll,  
so put another dime in the jukebox baby,  
I love rock 'n' roll,  
so come and take the time and dance with me!"_

-  
-Meanwhile-

"_You came in with the breeze  
on Sunday morning,  
you sure have changed since yesterday  
without any warning!  
And you want me badly,  
you cannot have me._

_I thought I knew you,  
I've got a new view  
I thought I knew you…oh well."_

The last notes rang out of the garage and into the street, the little kids on the block applauded and approached the teens holding the instruments, "You're so cool, nee-chan!" one of the kids said all sparkly eyed and inspired. "One more! One more!" Another cried jumping up and down in joy.

"Aw, sorry, kiddo, but I think we need to take a breather and then we'll come and do another few songs later." The one and only rosette of Konoha, Haruno Sakura, said setting down the cherry red SG Gibson. The kids whined, "But, hey great job on this—sorry to have kind of just thrown this offer at you at last second since our old singer had to leave."

"Not at all." The brunette said smiling, "It was just a little hard to say no."

"Shoot, Matsuri, had we known that you had pipes like that we would've taken you over our old singer ages ago." Ino said. Matsuri smiled sheepishly.

"Ino!" Tenten reprimanded while twirling a drumstick between her fingers, "Temari was great with us too. It wasn't her fault her dad made her go off to school. He thought it was 'unimportant'."

"Speaking of which, I still haven't managed to convince father that this band is important." Hinata sighed.

"Aw, don't worry about that, Hinata." Sakura said patting her dear friend on the back, "Plus, we've been doing this for about six months now so he'll have to see that we're making some progress. Especially with our first gig coming up soon."

"Pfft, I mean, what did he expect you to do with those piano skills of yours?" Ino mused, "Play at Carnegie Hall? I say that we tour across the world instead…with Joan Jett." Sakura laughed.

"As if, I think we're far from any of that. Although meeting Joan Jett would definitely be awesome."

"Wait a second, I barely had any time to refute any of what you were saying: when's this first gig coming up and where?"

"The last Saturday of June, at the Warehouse. I mean, we're just the opening act but it's four songs; three covers and one of our own." Tenten answered. Matsuri nodded.

_Beep, beep_, went one of the cell phones stacked on a speaker, "Ah, shoot, that's me." Sakura said picking up her beat-up looking phone, "What the hell? No, go away." Sakura muttered to herself while deleting the message. Slamming down the phone and pretending that absolutely nothing happened, she whipped around and walked over to her guitar sitting on its stand.

"Sakura, who was that?" Ino pressed. Sakura said nothing, just strummed random notes off her guitar and glanced at the ground occasionally, "Who was that?" No reply.

"Anyway," Tenten cut in before anything dramatic started, "I think we should do one more run-through and then call it quits—unless there's something else you guys want to play.

"Right," Hinata said while picking up a beat-up looking electric acoustic guitar, "First song on the playlist is _Jane Says_." Ino decided to lay off Sakura for a while. _But mark my words I will find out. She's been acting grumpy lately anyway and it's bringing some bad juju to the band._

"One, two, three, four!" Tenten counted off followed by the odd sounds of Jane's Addiction.

**I kid you not, once a band has been rollin' for a bit, rehearsals usually consists of jamming out and playing songs that they know to try and improve them. Or they're working on their own stuff. Er…I'll work on trying to pick up the pace a little. Yeah…**


	4. Encounter

Disclaimer: I'll own Naruto when Trix aren't for kids. That means I never will. I don't any of the songs or bands here either—stop rubbing it in my face!

—About Three Weeks Later—

What did people have against sleep anyway? Gaara buried his face in his pillow trying to find this fantasy called "sleep". A few minutes passed before he rolled over on his shoulder. It was just his luck to try and sleep and people would just happen to need something at the most ungodly hour of the morning. He had decided to try and fall asleep at 5:00—in the morning, of course—when Temari called him first.

He had been dozing off when that _wench_ decided to call him. He sighed. He was getting way too angry about it. Glancing at his alarm clock, the angry red letters read 5:51.

Ah, but had it not been for Temari he would have never met _her._

_It was again, too damn early for Gaara. Or anybody in their right mind. Temari had called a few days ago asking if he wouldn't mind helping her packing her things and loading them up in her car. It wasn't like he had anything better to do anyway, naturally he obliged. _

_And in return for him helping her Temari to treat her "dear little brother" to breakfast at some café that was just a hole in the wall. He didn't mind, he had been there before with her. A lot of people came to listen to whatever musical talent was playing there (at the front of the café there was a small stage big enough for about four people). A lot of hipsters turns out. _

_That day it was a group of three girls with acoustic guitars complemented with sunburst patterns. It was a really calm and pleasant atmosphere to be in. The musician girls sang folk songs while the smell of coffee and pastries wafted through the air. _

_Gaara had only gone up to the counter to get some napkins when he first ran into her. _Literally_ into her. With napkins in hand he had turned around without paying any attention to his surroundings and bumped into her. _

"_Oh, geez, I'm so sorry!" she said in a slightly panicked voice. He was at a loss for words. _

"_Er, no , it's my fault. I wasn't watching where I was going." After a few more exchanges of "it was my fault. I'm sorry." They parted ways. _

_He had no idea why he was so speechless. The girl was cute. Not pretty or gorgeous or beautiful. Just cute. And she really didn't seem like the type to be in a place like that. She was dressed like a total punk rocker. She had short choppy hair and was wearing combat boots, fishnet tights that were ripped, black shorts, and a tank top with the British flag on it with _Sex Pistols_ scrawled across it. _

His face flushed. Why was he thinking about _that_ right not? Wasn't he trying to focus on sleep. The thing he most desperately needed in the world? For the sake of Pete everyone thought he wore _eyeliner _because of his whole lack of sleep issue.

Sighing, he closed his eyes and slowly, ever so slowly, sleep began to wash over him. Sure, he was used to going nights without sleep, but he was seventeen, he did need sleep like the rest of the teenage population. Sleep felt great for a change.

That is, until the door burst open.

Gaara snarled and pulled his pillow over his head hoping that whomever it was would just go away. That was not the case. Instead, he sat on his back.

"Wake up, little brother." Kankuro chirped. How the hell could he be so energetic in the morning?

"Go away." Came Gaara's muffled voice from beneath the pillow.

"Not until you listen to me." Kankuro said stubbornly. Gaara pushed him off and tried to go back to sleep. Kankuro merely jumped on top of him. Gaara growled, tackled him off.

"What? What could you possibly want at this unholy hour of the morning?" Gaara asked, his palm muffling Kankuro's reply. He grabbed his little brother's hand and removed it from his face.

"I need you to open up and manage shop today… and tomorrow… and the day after that." Kankuro said sheepishly. Gaara's eyes narrowed.

"For you? No way."

"Aw, c'mon! Look, I'm going to Suna City Limits today with my friends and I need you to run the shop. I promise I'll actually pay you this time."

"Fine!" Gaara decided while plopping himself back onto his bed, "Fine. Just leave the keys on the counter. Now, go away."

"Love you, little bro!" Kankuro beamed. His reply was a sarcastic "Yeah, sure you do."

No one would expect Kankuro to be a successful business owner. It was a small business that repaired, sold, and bought guitars. That's not all. They sold old records, bought old records—cassettes, CDs. They sold a variety of incenses for all of your hippie needs, along with hookahs, pipes, bongs, steam-rollers, vaporizers, lighters, along with concert T-shirts, neat-o-mosquito accessories. In short: it was a head-shop with a good amount of customers.

The shop constantly played music. Any genre of music as long as it wasn't hip-hop, rap, dubstep, house music, and pop. The shop could go anywhere from the hard-core fiery underworld of Megadeth, to the super-fun and awesome lair of Blink182, or the anarchist thoughts of The Clash, and even to the soft soothing sounds of The Smiths and The Organ*. Everything, just as long as it had guitar, bass, and drums: it was playable.

Gaara, however, sat bored behind the counter while _Debaser_ by The Pixies* hummed softly from the speakers all around the store. He really just wanted to smash his head in against the glass counter that illuminated a variety of pocket-knives. He was the only one working the shop that day.

Because all the other people who were supposed to work decided to go to Suna City Limits with his stupid older brother.

The bell for the shop jingled as another set of feet clopped through the shop. The song playing changed to _Where is My Mind?_ Yet again by The Pixies.

_Shukaku so help me if this guy's another tatted up bozo with a million piercings all over his face._ Gaara thought absent-mindedly as he waited to catch a glimpse of this next guy's face.

Well, he was wrong all over. First of all, it wasn't a guy, but a girl. A cute pixie like girl. Well, if a pixie went into a Joy Division concert and decided to change its life to follow that of a punk rocker. Second of all, the only piercing this girl had was one silver skull dangling off her left ear. Third of all, she had no tattoos. Just some henna scribbled onto her left wrist.

Her eyes fell on Gaara, and widened. _Crap, she recognized me_. Gaara thought, panic-stricken. She began to walk towards him.

"Sorry, this might be a weird question, but didn't I run into you a few days ago?" she asked. Her voice was filled with some odd sweetness that Gaara couldn't describe. Maybe kindness? Playfulness? He couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Er, yeah."

"So, you work here?" she asked.

"Kinda."

"It's kind of neat, huh?"

"Sure."

"Can you answer with more than one word?" she asked teasingly. He felt his face flush.

"Yes."

"So, what were you doing at that café then? You don't look like the type to go there."

"I could say the same to you." Gaara muttered, "So, what? The Sex Pistols your favorite band. You seem to have a lot of their merchandise." He said pointing at her belt.

"I like 'em well enough." She shrugged, "But if we're talking about favoritism here, my favorite is Rancid." Gaara's (non-existent) eyebrows shot up.

"Really? Why do you say that? I mean the Sex Pistols are probably the kings of punk."

"Well, you don't really show it off, I mean, do you always wear such bland colors? Show some pride by wearing the British flag or something or at least have their name scrawled out somewhere." She said with a grin. Gaara glanced down at his plain red shirt and black jeans.

"I like punk music, don't get me wrong. But I don't enjoy being walking billboard."

"Cheeky fella, aren't you?" she teased. He scoffed, but his lips started to curl into something of a playful smirk, "Anyway, that all aside. I need to pick up a CD—The Hives, Veni Vidi Vicious. The last guy working here said it'd be in today." Gaara resisted the urge to say "of course you ordered The Hives." And instead told her he'd be right back.

Sure enough in the back there it was. On top of it was a sticky note with a name scribbled on it. It was so scribbly that he couldn't even make out the name.

He came back and handed her the CD and rung up the price, while cashing her out she asked, "So, what kind of music are you into?"

He shrugged, "I don't particularly mind any music. I'd say I listen to pretty much. I guess it just depends on the mood I'm in."

"That doesn't answer my question, though. Name a few bands off."

"Er, Tool? Rage Against the Machine? Rob Zombie?" he suggested.

"Only when I'm angry." She said.

"Well said, um, The Doors? Hendrix?"

"When I feel like I need to cool down or just chill."

"Okay, I agree. Here's one: Two Door Cinema Club, Vampire Weekend, Foster the People?"

"Aw, um, I don't really know. I just sort of listen to music like that when feel like it."

"But your favorite genre is most definitely punk?" he asked.

"It's not just about genre. I think it's more about songs…ah, like this one isn't punk. And this has to be one of my favorite songs ever." Gaara turned his head up to listen to whatever song had come up on the playlist. It was _Ultraviolent (Light My Way)_ by U2.

"_You bury your own treasure,  
where it can't be found,  
but your love is like a secret,  
that's being passed around."_

Bono's voice echoed around the shop.

"Okay, sure it's a good song." He admitted. In the back he heard the shop bell ring, but hey, at that point he was enjoying the conversation he was having.

"So here's another question for you: do you have any favorite bands that are either all girls or at least a chick singer?" she asked with a grin. He thought about it.

"No Doubt." He shrugged. She laughed; he felt his face getting a little warm.

"I wouldn't have taken you for someone who listens to ska music. You look more like someone who listens to the Smiths and The Cure and then goes to cry about it later 'cause it's deep. I mean, what with the dark clothes and eye-liner and all."

His jaw could've fallen open, "I… _don't_ wear EYELINER!" He exclaimed. She burst out laughing and at this point he kind of wanted to go die in a hole. He was pretty sure his face was as red as his hair.

"Oh, crap! I'm sorry," she said between laughs, "It's just so…WOW!" and fell into a fit of giggles.

"OI! GAARA, WHERE ARE YOU?!" a loud voice echoed in. And just then the blonde wonder himself burst into the room where he was shocked to find Gaara with a girl. A _girl_, "Gaara, since when were _you _funny?" Naruto asked completely bewildered on why this girl was giggling/laughing.

"Ah, your friend is here." She said wiping a tear of laughter from her eye, "I… ah, better go. Whoo, that was funny."

"Wait, I, uh, didn't catch your name." Gaara said, completely embarrassed that _Naruto_ of all people was witnessing this. She smiled and blushed prettily.

"It's Matsuri. And you?"

"Gaara." He smiled. For what reason, even he didn't know. She gave a sheepish wave goodbye and walked out of the room.


	5. Encounter THE SEQUEL!

**Ah, sorry I forgot to mention it in the previous chapter, but the two bands I had with the little * are seriously cool. Look them up if you've got the time they were The Organ (if you like The Smiths then you'll seriously like them) and The Pixies. Unless you've already heard them. I like them. ^^ And with that said, a new chapter.**

Disclaimer: I don't… own…Naruto…

Naruto glanced between the door and Gaara several times. What the _hell_ had he just witnessed? Gaara—the most unsocial person he knows—was talking to… A GIRL?! Was the world ending? Was Naruto possibly still asleep? What on earth was going on? Naruto had a million questions running through his mind, but the only one that managed to be vocalized was, "What the hell was that?"

"What the hell was what?" Gaara asked back in his dull personality.

"That!" he said flailing his arms and pointing at the exit, "What's-her-face?! Who are you and what have you done with Gaara? I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone!"

"Just calm down. You obviously didn't come here just to harass me, what do you want. You'll scare away the customers."

Naruto grinned, "Harass you, whatever do you mean?"

"Look, either tell me what you want or I'll call the cops to drag you out of here."

Naruto's grin drooped into a frown, "You're mean."

"I tell it like it is. What do you want?"

"D'you sell PA systems here?"

"This is a head shop, not a music store. I'd try that store down the street." Gaara said, "What do you need one for?"

"Duh, for you. We can't hear you over our instruments so we need you to sound a little louder," Naruto gave him a devilish grin, "Plus, guess what I did."

"Oh, crap."

"Shut up, it's not something bad! I got us our first gig."

"Naruto, we've only been playing for a few weeks."

"I know! I know! But it happened like this: I was hanging out at Ichiraku yesterday and—you know that guy Kiba? Yeah? Well, anyway he showed up and we started chatting and then he told me that he was throwing a huge party before we went back to school and I was all 'That's cool, man,' and he was all 'I know,' so then a little later in the conversation I brought up our band and he was all 'Dude, sweet, you guys want to play at the party? It's cool if you do some cover songs or something,' and I was all 'Dude, yeah,' and so we're going to be playing at Kiba's party on the first week of August." Naruto finished looking extremely pleased with himself.

Gaara, on the other hand, looked slightly pale, "Uh, you want me to sing in front of _people_?" Naruto rolled his eyes.

"No, I want you to sing in front of dogs. Yes, _baka_, I expect you to sing in front of people!"

"I don't think I can…" Gaara trailed off.

"What, do you have stage fright or something?"

"…"

"Gaara, Gaara, that is a _crime_." Naruto drawled out, "You can't have stage fright if you're in a band."

"Jim Morrison* had stage fright." Gaara pointed out. Naruto huffed.

"Yeah, but he got over it, plus, he was the Lizard King, he could do anything."

"And that led him to OD on what—heroin? In his bathtub, no thanks."

"Whatever! That's not my point! Now, we have to deal with your problem. Pass me that guitar." Naruto said. Gaara glanced behind him at the acoustic guitar that was sitting pretty on a stand.

"No way." Gaara said. Naruto raised his brows and gave him a well-if-that's-how-you're-going-to-be look and jumped over the counter. Gaara protested with a "What the hell?!" while Naruto plucked the guitar off its stand. While Naruto started tuning it Gaara started to say, "I really don't think this is necessary; just tell Kiba that you're singer got sick and he can't do the show when the date comes, that way—

"Nuh-uh, Gaara, you're going to sing in front of people whether you like it or not."

"I hope you know that this will kill my entire reputation."

"What reputation?"

"Of being a quiet creep."

"What?" Naruto looked confused for a second, "Well, after this whole endeavor you'll be one of the coolest guys in school." Gaara didn't look convinced. A few notes rang out throughout the shop from the guitar. Each one precise and played with some form of emotion that perhaps only a musician could understand. Naruto gave Gaara that look of "you-better-sing-or-Kami-so-help-me-I-will-demolis h-you".

Gaara sighed and turned his back around, trying to be oblivious to the costumers rummaging through the shops hippie gear. Keeping his eyes focused on the wall in front of him and the guitar notes he sang,

"_Sometimes I feel like I don't have a partner,  
Sometimes I feel like my only friend,  
if the city I live in,  
the city of angels  
lonely as I am  
together we cry…"_ He faltered, already feeling embarrassed and self-conscious.

"Look, Naruto, I can't do this. It might be easy for _you_ to be loud and obnoxious, but it isn't easy for me."

"Well, you see—hey! What do you mean, loud and obnoxious?!" Naruto screeched.

"That was… awesome!" a familiar voice piped in. Gaara and Naruto turned around. Naruto grinned wildly. Gaara felt like he wanted to go die in a hole, "I didn't know you were a singer, you're a pretty good guitar player too."

"Really? Aw, thanks!" Naruto said with a smile.

"Wha-Did you forget something?" Gaara mumbled. Matsuri grinned.

"Sort of. Uh, I wanted to say… uh, well, the band I'm in is going to be playing at the Warehouse tomorrow so you could come check me out—the band! I mean the band out, y'know, just so you _know_ that I do like other genres of music." Her face flushed pink.

"Yeah, sure. I'll be there." Gaara replied before he could even stop himself. A few more words were exchanged before Matsuri quickly waved and bolted for the door, cursing herself for stammering like a stupid girl. Then she forgot that she wasn't completely on the bright side… and that she was a girl.

"Gaara's got a girlfriend! Gaara's got a girlfriend!" Naruto sang. Gaara scowled.

"What are you, five years old?"

"Yep! So are we going or what?"

"You're not going to give me much of a choice, are you?" Gaara asked. Naruto grinned.

"Nope! Anyway, now that I've finished harassing you, I'm going to look for a good PA system or mixer or something. See you at band practice!" Naruto waved and left.

***FYI lead singer for The Doors**

**I was thinking this would be better as a musical… but then again I'm a theater freak—I think everything would be better as a musical, y'know, just break out into simultaneous song and dance… wait… I already do that…**

**Anyway…**

**Reviews, maybe? Please? **


	6. Encounter THE TRILOGY!

**So, eh, yes… this is all true. Caution: some slight language. **

**Disclaimer: I own not a thing. **

Damn those Creepers, always having to get in the way of his excellent projects. Gaara sighed and set down his Xbox controller next to him. Normally, he would've seen that Creeper standing there, but he just assumed that his heart wasn't in it that cloudy Saturday afternoon. He glanced around his lonely living room. Yep, just him and his huge TV and Minecraft. Temari being at college, Kankuro at Suna City Limits, and his dad… well, never being home. Normally, it would have been a fantastic evening by himself, but he felt a little… empty?

After a refreshing chug of tea, he picked up his controller and went back to reconstructing what was destroyed. He might have kept on going too. Until, that is, Naruto came bashing at the door followed by the Ice Bitch (as Gaara called him when he was mad at him) Sasuke. Naruto obnoxious as ever; Sasuke just looked bored.

"OI! Open up, dammit!" Naruto shouted unnecessarily loud, even despite there being a door there. Gaara peeked near the door to see both dudes clearly decked out to go see some live music. He immediately shrunk away from the door. Naruto pounded on the door several times, Sasuke pointed out that there was a doorbell at one point, but Naruto told him to shut up. Gaara, on the other hand, considered calling the cops. He knew why Naruto was there (Gay-Sasu was there for moral support, or something) but he was not going to give Naruto that satisfaction of seeing him be kind of—not completely—giddy in front of a _girl_. Much less leave his beautiful mansion home for a _girl_.

Suddenly the banging stopped. Gaara sighed heavily and walked back to his entertainment room. Snatching up his controller again, he played his video game in peace. Nothing but the sound of the controller's buttons echoing throughout the hallways and rooms.

And that one absent thud in one of the upstairs rooms.

"Shit," Gaara muttered, a horrible feeling dawning onto him. Just as he suspected, Naruto came running down the stairs (nearly tripping in the process) and into Gaara's personal space. Sasuke following in a cooler manner than Sir Clumsiness Naruto. Typically, Naruto looked as though he had just climbed up a tree in his backyard. Sasuke looking ever the "cool guy".

"What the hell do you think you're doing, man?" Naruto demanded. Gaara, wasn't at all surprised that Naruto had just broken into his home.

"You know, sitting around playing Minecraft." Gaara replied dully. He even waved his controller up, just in case Naruto missed. Sasuke, leaned on the wall in silence.

"No! I mean, why aren't you dressed?!"

Gaara glanced down at himself. He was still in his PJ pants and a baggy black shirt, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Dude! We're supposed to be going to the Warehouse tonight, remember?"

"Have fun." Gaara said while playing some more video games, trying to look busy. But, honestly, he was only making his little avatar dude on screen run in circles in the tower he just built. Naruto stepped in front of the TV.

"Dude, no, we're going tonight."

"Naruto, move." Gaara said, getting slightly angry.

"No. You're being a stubborn and stupid—I mean, that chick was pretty good looking and I'm being a good friend by looking out for your best interest."

"Sorry, Naruto, girls are loud and annoying and high-maintenance." Sasuke interjected. Both Gaara and Naruto stared at him for a few seconds, "Mostly annoying."

"Go get yourself a pretty girl Naruto," Gaara suggested, "I'm not interested."

That was the last straw, according to Naruto, at least. Naruto did the most evil deed: he turned off the Xbox, "No, Gaara, man! Stop being a little pussy and get yourself out there! That chick clearly had the hots for you and you're being a little bitch about it!" Gaara glared at Naruto.

"You can break into my house, you can annoy me from week to week, you can call me a bitch or pussy or whatever, but you do NOT turn off my damn Xbox while I'm in the middle of playing it!"

Sasuke just watched the entire situation completely amused.

"Teme, tell him something!" Naruto exclaimed. Sasuke raised his brows in mild surprise.

"…"

"You bastard."

"…"

"You're a terrible friend."

"Hn…"

"See, he's got nothing to say, therefore I have every right to stay in my house. Alone. Go away." Gaara said bluntly.

Unfortunately, Naruto did not go away. He stayed right there until Gaara got frustrated—came close to beating the every-living out of him (Sasuke had to stop him)—and then decided to get dressed. So now, there he was sitting in the back seat of Naruto's car with his arms folded while he pouted. In the meantime, Naruto chattered on like there wasn't an angry Gaara and extremely silent Sasuke in his car. Everything was just as it should have been.

Of course, Naruto guaranteed that they'd be on time. No joke. When entering the Warehouse there were only a few people there: the bartenders Sasori and Deidara, the announcer kid Rock Lee, and a few people who decided to start drinking early. The reason being that the Warehouse was so popular was entirely simple: cheap booze, no carding for underage kids, and live music. Also the fact that the Warehouse used to be a part of a factory in the outskirts of Konoha, therefore there were no noise complaints and the cops were too lazy to even roll by there. Meaning it was the ultimate place for anybody who like to rock out and be totally lax. Sure the occasional fight would break out, but the Warehouse was run by some dude named Pein who had some excellent security guys around at all times.

"Don't like him." Sasuke grumbled.

"Who?" Naruto asked.

"The blonde—Deidara, he's always stopping by my place to talk with Nii-san." Sasuke said in a low voice.

"He's pretty OK, y'know." Naruto said.

"You just dig him 'cause he gives you discount on your drinks." Gaara mumbled.

It wasn't long before more and more people began to flood into the Warehouse. And eventually _her_. Matsuri. Luckily, she hadn't spotted Gaara in the crowd of loud rock 'n' rollers and was too occupied with her band mates anyway. He was positive that he would be tongue tied if she tried talking to him at that moment.

Eventually it was that magical hour when the band began to set up on stage. The drummer—an athletic looking girl—was quickly tuning her toms on stage. Gaara briefly wondered how she could hear them over the noise; while another girl—a lot more feminine and shy-looking—hooked up her keyboard to the PA system on stage. Once everything seemed intact, they cleared the stage and Rock Lee stepped on.

"Check: one, two. Check: one, two. Can you hear me?" Lee shouted into the mic. The audience replied with a deafening roar. For a brief moment Sasuke wondered how someone like Lee could be the announcer here. He didn't look like a rocker, but he supposed he had enough "youthful" energy to keep the crowds enthused the entire time, "Alright. Alright. Welcome to Live Nite at the Warehouse. We got a real treat for all of you alt lovers out there. First up on stage an all girl band: Chizuru*—featuring the beautiful Haruno Sakura!" Although the crowd wasn't quite sure about the last part, they still gave a positive feedback.

Matsuri stepped up with an extreme amount of energy. Of course the audience hung onto her every word. Which made Gaara only a _little_ jealous. (Not because he liked her or anything), "We'll start off with something from back in the day, here's The Cure, Just Like Heaven." Naturally, everyone found that song worthy of a grand applause.

The tom beats started immediately carrying that soft tone that The Cure was known for.

"_Show me, show me, __show me how you do that trick  
The one that makes me scream" she said  
"The one that makes me laugh" she said  
And threw her arms around my neck  
"Show me how you do it  
And I promise you I promise that__  
__I'll run away with you  
I'll run away with you"_

Somewhere between the first and second verses the audience started to sing along with Matsuri. Most of the people there were satisfied with the girls' progress. Especially since it was a _chick_ band, let's be real, how often are there awesome chick bands. Well, there is The Organ, but high schools bands.

Gaara mostly appreciated the guts they had to go up there and perform. He could barely get the courage to talk to regular people, much less sing in front of a full house of music-starving lunatics. And the way that they could keep audience hypnotized with their music. They were natural stage performers. Not a single one of them had a sour look on their face. They all looked like they were having the time of their lives.

And they were. What with the first song over they moved onto the next: Sunday Morning by No Doubt. Now midway through, they felt as though they were getting a bit more of a hang to it. There were no words that they could use to describe that kind of feeling on stage. It was being on a pedestal and they could just feel everyone's attention on them the whole time.

Then again, these were songs that people _knew_. What made the girls most nervous was the fact that they had to perform their own song. Not that they didn't have any or anything like that, but this was going to be there shot. Whether people like their music or not would make or break them.

Speaking of which, their time was soon arriving. As the last beats of Sunday Morning droned out, the audience was in music frenzy. Ino stretched out her fingers, Tenten adjusted herself for their final song, Hinata switched her keyboard's distortion as did Sakura. Matsuri wiped off the sweat that had built up on her forehead.

"Wow, thanks for being such a great audience," Matsuri said into the mic, "We're going to do our last song tonight. The girls wrote this song when they first formed, so hopefully I'll meet their and your expectations. This is called As Heaven is Wide."

First the keyboard started with a shrill beat, soon joined in by a quicker drum beat and the bass, carrying the rhythm throughout the room, and the guitar playing long notes drenched in distortion. Finally, Matsuri started:

"_Nothing that you say will release you  
Nothing that you pray would forgive you  
Nothing's what your words mean to me  
Something that you did will destroy me  
Something that you said will stay with me  
Long after you're dead and gone_

If flesh could crawl  
My skin would fall  
From off my bones  
And run away from here

As far from God  
As heaven is wide  
As far from God  
As angels can fly

If holy is as holy does  
This house will burn straight down to hell  
Take it's conscience with it  
As it falls

Nothing said could change the fact  
My trust was blind  
You broke the pact  
If God's my witness, God must be blind

If flesh could crawl  
My skin would fall  
From off my bones  
And run away from here

As far from God  
As heaven is wide  
As far from God  
As angels can fly

I wish, I wish  
I wish, I wish

Take it back I dare you take it back  
No you can't? You should have thought of that  
What's inside a man  
That goes so wrong

Choke on guilt that's far too good for you  
Say one word I'll laugh and bury you  
And leave you in the place  
Where you left me

If flesh could crawl  
My skin would fall  
From off my bones  
And run away from here

As far from God  
As heaven is wide  
As far from God  
As angels can fly

I wish I could fly  
As angels can fly

I wish, I wish"

At first nothing. And they thought they wouldn't have made it, but then the entire room burst into loud noises of approval. Even Sasuke was mildly impressed—which he will never, ever admit out loud. Naruto went ballistic. Gaara kind of just stood there. Not that he wasn't impressed, he was blown away, but he was at that point of silent awe.

As quick as they set up they took off, the girls gave their farewells and said they hoped to be back soon while Rock Lee redeemed his position on stage and announced the next band. After putting all their equipment back in Sakura and Tenten's car, the girls went back into the Warehouse where Matsuri greeted an uber surprised Gaara with a hug. Naruto stood by with an evil grin while Sasuke smirked.

"I'm happy you came!" Matsuri beamed at Gaara, then turned to Naruto, "Hi… dude-whose-name-I-didn't-get, glad you came too!" She hugged Naruto, which he gladly returned. You know, Naruto is a very huggable person. Sasuke, on the other hand, walked away before he got caught up in that, "How'd we do?"

Gaara opened his mouth to say something, but the next band's music started blaring. At the same time, Matsuri dragged Gaara into the crowd so they could go enjoy the music. That left Naruto standing awkwardly next to Ino, Tenten, and Hinata.

"So… which one of you is single?" Naruto asked with a cheeky grin. Luckily, he only got slapped twice by Ino and Tenten.

-Later-

Most of the people had already left the Warehouse, Gaara probably could have stayed there all night with Matsuri, but Hidan—the head security dude—told the remaining people to get the hell out. And that was putting it nicely.

It was probably the most Gaara had ever talked in his life. And that's saying a lot, but he was okay with Matsuri. Trying to talk with Naruto got annoying because he didn't _stop_ talking. Talking with Neji or Sasuke or Shikamaru went something like this:

Gaara: Hn.

Sasuke: Hn.

Neji:…

Shikamaru: Zzzzzzz

It was probably the most he ever laughed in a long while. Probably since he was a kid.

Just then, Naruto came out of nowhere, "Gaara," he droned, more whined, "I can't find Sasuke. He's not here."

"Maybe he found some less annoying to hang out with." Gaara said. Matsuri stifled a laugh. Naruto was probably too buzzed to realize that it was a jab at him.

"I'm going to go look for him some more, meet me at the car in five. If I'm not back by then, tell my pet fox that I loved it. OI! Hidan, ya bastard, lemme in!" Naruto slurred slightly. Gaara frowned.

"Naruto, you don't have a pet fox." But he was already gone, causing Hidan to cuss more than he was supposed to. Gaara sighed.

"He's kind of funny." Matsuri smiled. Gaara looked mildly surprised, "So, are you doing anything tomorrow?" Gaara shook his head, feeling his heart pounding in his chest, "Well, there's this artsy thing they do at the park every other week, so if you want, maybe you would want to go hang out there? With me? Again, you don't have it was just a suggestion."

"Yeah, I'll go. What… er, what time should I meet you? Or where?"

"My house, here," with a marker she got out of nowhere, she scribbled her address and number on his hand, "Just call me and let me know when you're on your way or something. Then—

"Oi! Matsuri!" Tenten called waving an arm to catch her attention, "Stop flirting and let's go!"

Matsuri cleared her throat, "Right. Um, well, see you tomorrow, yeah?" Gaara nodded. She waved and ran towards Tenten and Ino as they giggled and talked of girly things and whatnot. Gaara sighed and figured he should head to Naruto's car. When he got there he saw Naruto practically bawling.

"That bastard left me," he said waving his phone in Gaara's face. Gaara quickly snatched the phone away where he looked at the conversation between Naruto and Sasuke. Which went something like this:

Naruto: Where r u?!

Sasuke: I left.

Naruto: You basterd all I did was love you!

Sasuke: Stop being weird.

And that's all that was written, "I'm driving." Gaara announced. Naruto wiped the tears forming on the corners of his eyes.

"That's the best idea you've had all night."

***Chizuru—One Thousand Cranes**

**So, eh, yes, this is all true. I was busy so I did not have time to really type. Uwaaa, this is the last day of summer for me, so here you go. Just take it!** **Until next time! Or not, or something…**


End file.
